She’s been dating a billionaire. Don’t think daddy dotard set her up either.
2 Likes
Yes, it could be called Guantana-lago.
4 Likes
Dear TPM, The first author’s name is Ilya Marritz, and he’s associated with WNYC. Cripes, don’t you people listen to the radio in your hometown? https://www.wnyc.org/people/ilya-marritz/
1 Like
The shit is really going to hit the fan for The Dottard in Chief when The Lust Object is charged with federal crimes and is looking at prison time. Ivanka with her fancy dye job all grown out and after six months of starchy jail food is going to be an awesome spectacle. I cannot wait!
3 Likes
This is a good idea, but I’m concerned there may not be enough room for all of them.
2 Likes
Whereupon they cynically said no to the war hero and voted for the guy who said he just was against dumb wars solely to throw naive people like me off their trail. And then they voted for the Tea Party because they’re all racist fucks and then they voted for the black guy with funny ears again just to confuse the naive ones like me again and then they voted for Trump and then they voted against him and God I’m exhausted with these overarching explanations and feel inclined to give them up. Maybe there’s simply not a one-size-fits-all explanation sufficient to explain a given outcome in a complex society? Call me crazy!
4 Likes
That’s probably true. My introduction to people like that was via a small start-up in 1996 – shortly before the internet boom. Their developers were so smart they had social media, chat keywords linked to targeted advertising, a sales funnel that included free email and free voicemail, an eager and untapped market segment, and interested advertisers. They’d developed text-to-speech and even had rudimentary voice-to-text software. All they had to do was run with this and they’d become rich beyond imagination. But that held little interest for them. What interested and excited them was an illegal con they’d come up with to trick their customer base. That was what management saw as their silver bullet for success.
I was involved with this company for two years and every time they had the choice, they always chose the illegal way. Every. Time.
3 Likes
They are so bad at this because they didn’t need to be better at it in their native habitat.
In that habitat, they were obviously good enough to (more than) survive for generations.
Think of it in terms of evolutionary biology.
And maybe ask what kept their native habitat so … safe and amenable.
2 Likes
No.
1 Like
Interesting. I haven’t seen it in my professional life too much, but certainly I’ve known a number of manipulative people who’d do it pretty compulsively even when it wasn’t to their advantage. The psychological term “Machiavellianism” hasn’t filtered out into general parlance as much as a term like sociopath has, but it’s certainly a profile you encounter.
1 Like
Draining the swamp…of integrity, morality, honesty, prudence, good intentions…and on and on and on and on and on…
3 Likes
Trump is bad at it IMHO because mental illness tells him he’s smarter than everyone else and his own mental dullness prevents him from imagining the ways he could get in trouble by being so obviously crooked. Cohen was bad at it because he’s a weak man who wouldn’t say “This is unethical” and walk away.
5 Likes
Yes, and many, many other counter-examples, including almost any cult anywhere in the world.
1 Like
Maybe it’s Machiavellianism. I expect a closer examination would reveal a deep sense of anxiety and insecurity.
Navajo religion expresses something profound in its understanding of what we translate to “witch”. To become a Navajo “witch”, one must commit a deep transgression against society’s rules – such as murder. That gives the transgressor power. There might be something similar going on for these types. If it’s forbidden, it must be powerful…maybe something like that.
3 Likes
That was EXACTLY my thought, too! I mean, really…
3 Likes
Seems as if Trump was a little ahead of this analysis with the inauguration investigation but YEP !.
"“Trump loves playing the martyr. If we arrive at that juncture where his ouster by the Senate looks like a lock, Trump will do what he would have done if he’d lost in 2016: Take his impossibly loyal following and monetize the hell out of it.”
2 Likes
Whao. The grifting is even worse than I thought. Even after the email to Ivanka, who cut the hotel price, the Inauguration committee still complained, saying they could get space elsewhere for free.
““Please take into consideration that when this is audited it will become public knowledge,” [inaugural event planner Stephanie Winston Wolkoff] wrote, noting that other locations would be provided to the inaugural committee for free. … “I understand that compared to the original pricing this is great but we should look at the whole context,” Wolkoff wrote, suggesting a day rate of $85,000, less than half of the Trump hotel’s offer.”
ProPublica notes that it’s a violation of IRS rules for a private business (the Trump Organization is privately held, mostly by Donald Trump himself) to overcharge a non-profit with which it’s affiliated.
(Slate)
1 Like
Dude, you read my mind! 
This is exactly the question. You know there’s gonna be crooked people in high places, and greedy ones too. But Individual 1 and his family are SO FUCKING STOOPID that it takes my breath away.
IOW, not JUST that they’re corrupt, not JUST that they’re greedy, but that they do such OBVIOUSLY ILLEGAL shit and do it in PLAIN SIGHT. They are literally fooling NO ONE and yet (he and) they have done it for years.
Is there any credence to the thought that rich people get away with more stuff, because…you know…they’re RICH? That’s all I can think of, but please correct me if I’m wrong…
Honestly, most criminals TRY to be subtle so as, you know, NOT to get caught? These people are totally fucking obvious and not even trying to hide it. So they’re not only greedy and corrupt…they are also STOOPID to an amazing degree.
Perhaps you’re able to be that way when you inherit such wealth? Although, I would contend that if you’re THAT DAMN DUMB…you’re not gonna be rich for long because the SMART crooks will rob you blind. Right? Or am I missing something?
2 Likes
YES!!’ EXACTLY!!! But not THESE fuckin people!!!
I mean, how bad IS IT when you look THIS BAD…
Compared to other criminals!!! 
Wtf???
1 Like
That is a fascinating concept. Never heard of Machiavellianism either, but that also is interesting. There has to be something that compels people to do the illicit thing, even (maybe especially) when they don’t have to. 
[ETA: I know who Machiavelli is, just have not heard the term Matt mentioned.]
2 Likes